Community
16 April, 2026
Funding secured
HALF-A-MILLION dollars in funding has been secured to realise the long-awaited dream of building purpose-built facilities for Mortlake’s burgeoning number of female athletes.
Member for Western Victoria Jacinta Ermacora visited the Mortlake Recreation Reserve on Wednesday morning to announce Moyne Shire Council will receive $500,000 towards upgrading the Mortlake Recreation Reserve with a women and girls change facility.
“I’m honoured to have been able to play a part in this,” she said.
“It’s not just about exercise – it’s about the inclusion of women in what was historically male-dominated football clubs, so these change rooms are exciting for rural communities because it strengthens the clubs.
“The Allan Labor Government investing in facilities for women to get changed is a huge message of endorsement and legitimacy for women’s participation in sport.
“This isn’t just about some change facilities, it’s about creating a safe environment where women feel included and respected, and supported in health and leadership.”
Recreation Reserve Committee chair Jacinta Wareham said it had been a long road to securing the funding.
“We’re going to be pretty unique because we’ll have better facilities for the women than the men – which isn’t the case anywhere,” she said.
“It’s a lot of work – you get knocked back for grants after putting so much work into them – but to finally get one across the line is great.
“I feel like it’s one of those things where if you build it, you can create more growth in women’s sport – we’ve got some growth but we can build the facilities and encourage more use of this ground.
“It’s difficult for some of the women’s teams to find facilities so we’re unique in that we’re low usage – so we can create these facilities, attract people to use our ground and get more people coming through to our town.
“That then has an economic flow on for our town, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”
The change rooms will be named after Mortlake’s cricketing star Georgia Wareham, who was back in town on Wednesday morning to join in the celebrations.
The Melbourne Renegades and Australian superstar said she was far more excited to see the possibilities which could be opened up for girls in the community than for having her name emblazoned on the facility.
“It’s pretty cool because a lot of people have put in hard work behind the scenes,” Ms Wareham said.
“To see it all come to fruition will be amazing but it will be weird to see it with my name on it but it’s very much deserving for the community.
“I don’t have many words – it’s a weird feeling but I’m far more excited for the facilities.
“The town deserves that kind of access and all the girls playing sports deserve to have those kinds of facilities.
“Whether it’s got my name on it or not, it’s really cool.”
Ms Wareham said it was “huge” for the funding to have been secured as Mortlake and Terang were growing from strength to strength in attracting women into sport.
“For small towns to have the facilities they need to keep women and girls active and playing sports is fantastic,” she said.
“The numbers are continuing to increase so that’s awesome.
“Sport is such a social thing so to be able to keep that alive in small towns like Mortlake is pretty cool.
“To have the facilities to back that makes player retention and development a whole lot easier.”
Moyne Shire Council mayor councillor Jordan Lockett, who had brought his daughter along for the announcement, said he was proud for her to see the level of support the Mortlake community had shown for the ongoing development of women’s sport between the committee, the clubs and from state and local government.
“It’s a no-brainer,” he said.
“It’s taken the nation a while but it’s a real positive going forward.
“This is a small community punching way about its weight so it’s super exciting.
“It’s amazing – it’s so exciting because it’s great for Mortlake, great for the community and great for the region.”
Independent chair of the Masterplan Implementation Group Mick Murphy OAM has long been a driving force behind securing the funding, which complements a range of upgrades at DC Farran Oval including lighting, irrigation, training facilities, rejuvenated netball courts and the installation of a helipad.
“I think this is the most excited I’ve been for any of the funding allocations because it’s been the toughest to get over the line,” he said.
“We’ve had quite a few misses on funding so it’s been on the books for a fair while.
“It’s great to get a result but it also completes the puzzle – we’ve got women’s cricket and women’s footy and now we’ll have purpose-build facilities for them.
“The model we’ve put together about chasing funding and working together has really delivered.
“Jacinta Ermacora has been wonderful in driving this for us, and now we’ll have something the community can be really proud of and can go forward from here.”
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